


A Ghost of a Chance

by therealassistant



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: F/M, I'm just putting the pairing tag there to be safe, Kaede ghost au, Spoilers, how the hell do you tag, i guess it could be romantic, i suck at summaries, im not going to tag anymore characters im just going to Die, the relationship is more platonic if anything, the whole gang is here that's just the major characters for now, whoops probably should have said that earlier
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2018-10-06 22:30:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10345929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therealassistant/pseuds/therealassistant
Summary: She couldn't blame him for staring, after all, it isn't everyday that you see the ghost of your friend that got killed barely a hour ago.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is like the first fanfic I've posted in two years, although this is the first time I've posted on this site. All I can say about that is that I hope I got better. I've seen a few fics with this ghost genre before, and I was sort of inspired by them to write an idea that's been on my mind since I saw the end of chapter one for this game. So I hope you all enjoy.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa in any way, shape, or form (besides playing the games here and there), so please don't sue me

No matter how many times she tries to rip off the rope around her neck, she can never get it off, her nails cracking more and more with each attempt, unable to notice her face going from a dark ocean blue to a startling purple and then back to that ocean blue. She doesn't even feel her body slamming into the piano keys as the Monokuma kids to the side of the piano pull the rope above them, "guiding" her body as if they were children playing with a puppet for the first time. Her vision slowly blurs as her breathing gets worse, all of her classmates now just unidentifiable blobs in the distance. Her vision eventually starts to fade away as her body slams into the piano faster and faster, her struggle to get the rope off getting weaker and weaker, and right when she wonders if Angie's god is even **real** and if they could even forgive her, she-

She opens her eyes to the sound of a piano slamming shut.

She nearly jumps at the sound, her hands immediately flying to her neck, her vision blurry as she gasped for breath to find-

Nothing. Nothing around her neck. She stares at the ground as she tries to process what just happened, her hands still around her neck as she took deep, slow breaths. She was sure she had been dragged right out of the room used for the class trial, shivering at the memory of the cold, metal arm wrapping around her neck, getting dragged into the air as she reached for Shuichi's outstretched hand. She remembered falling onto the piano, she remembered a rope tightening around her neck, forcing her to "stand up" on the piano's keys so Monokuma could use her to play "The Flea Waltz".

_(I don't understand how Monokuma could even have trouble with a piece like that... It's usually a very easy piece to learn, and-)_

She quickly shook her head as a small frown appeared on her face, as if to shake the thought out of her head. Now was not the time to criticize the psychopathic bear's lack of musical talent, but to find answers. 

_(I need to find everyone, maybe even call a meeting to apologize, and then ask them what happened. I may have to ask Shuichi as well, even if he probably won't want to help me, I...)_

She suddenly stopped thinking as she finally looked up, her eyes widening once she saw what was in front of her. Everyone, standing in the exact same spots as before, staring at a pink and blue... Something on the ground. She stared at it in complete silence, taking a few seconds more to realize that the thing in front of her was a Monokuma head covered in blood. She almost wanted to puke at the sight, but all she did was take a few steps back, away from the carnage in front of her. Once she did though, that's when the room exploded with voices, the voices of her classmate's, to be exact.

"What is this..!? What on Earth... is this..!?"

"A-Are you... serious..? You get killed.... t-that brutally..!?"

"God... at the very least, please give Kaede a peaceful death."

All voices were suddenly drowned out as Ouma suddenly cried in anguish, screaming Kaede's name, although his cries of anguish might be a lie as well. No one could ever tell with him, yet whether or not he was lying wasn't the biggest problem right now.

What did Angie just say?

To give her... A peaceful death..?

Was she... Dead..?

_(I... I-I can't be dead! I'm right here! Looking at all my classmates! Breathing and talking and thinking and-)_

"I-I... I'm right here..." No one turned to face her as she quietly whispered this out, staring at all of her classmates as she spoke, yet no one showed any sort of reaction to hearing her. The only person that moved was Shuichi, who fell to his knees as he stared at something behind the bloody Monokuma head. She glanced over her shoulder in an attempt to get a glance of what he was looking at, trying to avoid any eye contact with the bloody Monokuma head.

The second she sees what he's looking at, she wishes she didn't even try to look, her eyes somehow widening even more once she sees the enormousness piano behind her, blood coating the front of it in huge pink splashes, and it only takes her a second to realize that that must be where her body is. Yet that couldn't make sense, right? She was with the rest of her classmates! Standing among them! She was not dead! ... Was she?

It took all of her will power to look away from the piano, taking another deep breath before suddenly shouting, "Everyone! I'm right here! I'm not dead!" Her eyes dart around her classmates once she was done yelling, despair sinking into her mind as no one seemed to notice her, not even Shuichi, who barely even glanced in her direction...

_(... Wait, if he glanced at me, then that means he... He must have heard me, right..?)_

"Shuichi!" She shouted as she walked over to the detective on his knees, reaching towards him with a gentle hand in an attempt to comfort him in some way. "Shuichi, what's going on-?"

She blacks out the second she touches his shoulder.

###### 

She opens her eyes only seconds later, not looking at the detective that was her friend, but looking down at the ground, her hands on the ground, the black sleeves she wore almost making her uncomfortable. She could barely see through the black hair in front of her face, the hat she wore almost falling off her head, barely able to comprehend what just happened when suddenly-

"Aaaahh! Shut up! You're all annoying!"

Everyone, even Kaede, turned to the source of the sudden yelling, although most of them weren't surprised that the source of the yelling was Kaito Momata, the ultimate astronaut. What everyone was surprised by though, was the enraged look on his face and what he was yelling. "Every one of you... Whining and complaining like babies..." Kaito clenched his hand into a fist as he shut his eyes, gritting his teeth as he looked away for a few seconds before his eyes suddenly snapped open, screaming at the top of his lungs. "Shut the fuck up! You piss me off!" His eyes shut once again as the entire room went silent, all that was heard was Kaito's ragged, uneven breaths, Monokuma and his "children" strangely absent. "But you know... The one that pisses me off the most aren't the bastards that won't shut up..."

His eyes suddenly snapped once open again, finally glaring at Kaede, although she only returned the glare with wide eyes as he yelled at her. "It's you, Saihara!"

"... What-?"

She wasn't able to speak, barely able to comprehend what was even going on before she felt the other's fist connect with her face, causing her to nearly fall onto her back, instead going onto her hands again. Slowly, she raised a hand to her cheek, the only thing she could even hear was Kaito's voice, the astronaut standing right above her, his hand still clenched into a fist. "Clench your fucking teeth!"

"Kaito! You're supposed to say that before punching someone!"

The robot's protest only seemed to fall on deaf ears as Kaito continued to yell at his wounded classmate, his purple eyes filled with nothing but rage. "Weren't you listening to what Kaede was saying!? She said... She believes in you! She said she's entrusting her feelings to you! And yet, what!? You're just gonna quietly sit around without a word of complaint to Monokuma!? Aren't you a man!?"

"..." Kaede opened her mouth only once before quickly shutting it, shutting her eyes tight as she tried to think through the pain she was feeling. Somehow, to her, that punch Kaito gave her was the most painful thing she ever experienced, not even the noose around her own neck was this painful to her. Still, she tried to gather her thoughts, trying to solve the puzzle she already had the pieces to.

_(Everyone seems to think I'm Shuichi for some reason... Yet they didn't even listen to me before I tried to talk to him... Or it was more like... They couldn't see me? Almost as if I was invisible...)_

"... What? Say something back." Kaede was dragged out of her thoughts by Kaito's booming voice, although she didn't look up at him, "Aren't you pissed that I punched you? What do you have to say!?"

"Kaito... Please stop here." The suddenly gentle, motherly voice finally caused Kaede to look up, glancing over to the ultimate maid, Kirumi.

Tenko quickly joined in, nodding her head as she quickly adopted the fighting pose she seemed comfortable with. "Even though you're both males... Punching him so suddenly is too barbaric. If you plan on going any further, Tenko will bust out with her Neo Aikido!"

"... Tsk..." Kaito rubbed a hand against his jaw as he turned his back to Kaede, leaving her with a confused and almost fearful look on her face. "... Fine."

"... W-Wait, what are you all-?"

Before she could even finish her sentence, ignoring how strange her voice sounded, Tsumugi quickly ran up to her, helping her get back on her feet as she interrupted what she was saying. "Shuichi... Are you okay?"

Somehow, for her, that's when it all seemed to click, although for once, she forced herself to look calm as she took another deep, long breath. She shut her eyes as she forced herself to remain calm, she **needed** to remain calm. Losing her head in this situation might as well cause chaos around her.

_(No, I... I'm not okay! I'm dead, and I somehow possessed my friend on complete accident yet I can't tell you that because you'd think Shuichi was insane! I don't even know whether Shuichi is "alive" or not!)_

"... Y-Yeah... I'm... Fine..."

Suddenly, Maki spoke up, her monotone, almost motionless words cutting through this depressing mood that Kaede was almost suffocating in like a butter knife. "Then can we go back up? Maybe you're all depressed because we keep staying here?" 

The equally chilled laugh coming from Korekiyo almost had the same effect, nodding his head in agreement as he glanced over towards Maki. "Kukuku... That statement hits the mark."

It seemed that the rest of their classmates agreed, most of them quickly going into the elevator that took them to the class trial, leaving Kaede and Kaito alone in the room, both remaining completely silent for a few minutes. Kaede barely noticed him, and even if she did, she probably wouldn't have given him much thought, too deep into her own thoughts to notice him at all.

"Shuichi..." Kaede quickly glanced up towards Kaito, surprised that he was even there, tensing up a bit, expecting Kaito to once again punch her, before noticing how somber Kaito looked. "I don't know how much you knew Kaede, but..." The silence once again filled the room as Kaito seemed to try and collect his thoughts, Kaede's mind strangely blank as she just stared at him. 

"... Why don't you try going to her talent lab?"

Once again, the silence filled the room, Kaito glancing over towards her every few moments, as if expecting something, before Kaede finally realized that she was supposed to respond. "... Why?"

"At the very least, that room should be filled with things she loved."

"... Things that I-... Kaede, loved..?"

Kaito didn't seem to notice her slip up as he nodded his head, finally turning so that he was facing Kaede fully. He stared down at Kaede for a few moments, before sighing, running a hand through his hair as he shut his eyes, looking down at the ground. "... Listen, if you're feeling down... There's a right and wrong way to do it. Even if you're depressed here, no one's gonna come cheer you up." He turned towards the elevator as he spoke. "If anybody could encourage you... It's only the Kaede in your memories." 

With those final words, Kaito walked away towards the elevator, leaving Kaede alone, the only company with her now being the bloody Monokuma head and her dead body under the piano.

###### 

She doesn't understand why she actually decided to come to her talent lab. Maybe it was the thought of possibly getting answers, or that she didn't know where else to go, or even that she wanted to get far away from her dead body. The farther she got away from her body, though, the more she wanted to cry. She could barely walk straight while possessing her friend, the guilt slowly rising up as all she could think about was what even happened to Shuichi's spirit. She tried to avoid as many people as she could, which eventually led her to her talent lab. 

She stared up at the door in silence, ignoring how Shuichi's black hair sometimes got into her eyes, or how the hat he usually wore sometimes messed with her vision, not wanting to mess with it in case her friend was still alive and came back. 

"..." A small sigh left her mouth as she lowered the bill of the hat she wore, screwing her eyes shut, a frustrated frown on her face.

_(What if this is some sort of trap set up by Monokuma..? I... I don't want to kill Shuichi, either...)_

She remained standing there in front of the door, completely still and silent, before she suddenly nodded her head, adjusting the hat on her head before gripping the door knob.

_(Even if this is a trap... I'm right by the door, so I could probably dodge it in no time... I hope.)_

Before she could change her mind, she quickly pushed open the door, suddenly stopping as she saw what was inside the room, her breath hitching in her throat as she looked around with wide eyes, her hand still on the doorknob. 

Discs ran along an entire wall, full of recordings of piano solos, as well as a huge chalkboard in the back covered in music notes. Although what she only paid attention to, in that moment, was that grand piano in the middle of the room. 

"..." Slowly, hesitantly, she walked over towards the piano, barely hearing the gasp behind her as she approached the instrument. Once she was close enough to it, she reached forward towards the piano, slowly, hesitantly, before quickly withdrawing her hand, the memories of her execution returning full force. All she could see was Monokuma, dressed up as a conductor, a baton in his hand as the noose raised her up, the baton then moving back and forth, dragging her along with it and then- 

"... Kaede?" 

Kaede felt as if she couldn't breath once she heard her friend's voice, tears in her eyes as she turned around, finally noticing Shuichi in the doorway to the Research Room. He had a hand over his chest, the other on the door frame as he seemed to try and catch his breath, staring at her, actually seeing her, his eyes wide, his mouth wide open as he just _**stared**_ at her. 

Although, she didn't get mad or upset with him for staring, after all, it's not everyday that you see the ghost of your friend that was just brutally killed before your eyes. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was motivated by how much positive feedback I got from the first chapter, that I decided to type the second one up now. I was surprised that I finished this quickly, although it's probably because most of the dialogue is stuff I thought up, and I didn't have to hunt down a Youtube channel that was translating it (which I did for about a hour for a small amount of dialouge, with minimal results, but I managed to find one eventually). I do hope you all enjoy this, though, and I also hope that none of the characters turn out OOC
> 
> Discalimer: I don't own Danganronpa in any way, shape, or form (besides the games I play), so please don't sue me

They did nothing but stare at each other for awhile, him by the door, still trying to catch his breath, her by the piano in the middle of the room, almost afraid to go near it in fear of remembering her execution once again. She wondered if she could take a step away from the piano, but that would mean getting closer to Shuichi, so she just remained by the piano.

"... I-I..." Kaede crossed her arms as she looked off to the side, biting her lip as she tried to think of something, anything at all to say right now in an attempt to apologize to her friend.The longer she thought, though, the sooner she realized that would be near impossible. It was one thing to betray your friend's trust, using them to your advantage to try to kill someone, but it was another thing to then possess said friend you betrayed, using their body to do something against their will. Even if she didn't do anything but walk when she was possessing the detective, she could almost feel the guilt suffocating her as she went silent once again.

_(Did... Did he even feel or even see what was going on..? Oh god, he must have been terrified. I've done nothing but use him, I shouldn't have came back...)_

"Kaede, is... I-Is that..?" Kaede barely glanced up towards Shuichi, still deep into her own thoughts, her arms starting to shake as time went on, feeling warm tears starting to leave her eyes. She barely noticed the quiet sobs starting to leave her mouth, or the hesitant steps coming in her direction. 

_(I've done nothing but cause grief for everyone, and no one can even **see** me! Is this some sort of punishment Monokuma set up for me!? Am I just dreaming-?!)_

She screamed as she felt someone touch her hand, taking a few quick steps back towards the piano, nearly falling over. Shuichi gave a startled yell in return, his one visible eye widening in shock as he used one hand to grab his other hand, taking a few steps of his own away from Kaede. In fear or to help her calm down, she couldn't tell, either way, she wondered how Shuichi could even get that close to her so quietly, wanting to scream at him for touching her hand. Couldn't he see that she was dangerous? Wasn't he afraid? Wasn't he mad at her for what she had done? Wasn't he-?

"... You're cold..."

"... W-What?" She could barely make her words a whisper, the tears leaving her eyes slowing a bit at how sudden her friend's "accusation" was, a confused and slightly shocked look on her face. Shuichi blushed at her confusion, his hand flying to his hat as he glanced away in embarrassment. "I'm s-sorry... I-I mean... Your hand... It's cold...."

"..." Strangely enough, Kaede couldn't help but suddenly laugh, a small, almost quiet sound, like bells rung in the wind, causing Shuichi to freeze up, startled. "Well... Dead people are supposed to feel cold, Shuichi..." 

Shuichi nodded in return slowly, a forced, almost embarrassed smile appearing on his face as he replied. "I... I guess so... Although, you just... You look so real, so it... Surprised me..." Eventually, Shuichi's voice drifted off to quiet mumbling, his blush somehow getting worse, before just stopping altogether. "... K-Kaede, you..." He still didn't look at her as he tried to collect his thoughts, although his blush did disappear by that point, as well as his uneasy smile, his hand covering his mouth, trying to find the right words to say. "... You're a ghost... Right..?"

"..." Kaede's smile disappeared at Shuichi's question, looking away once again in guilt as she crossed her arms, almost as if she refused to answer his question. A few minutes later, though, she did speak up, her voice strangely quiet. "... I... I guess..."

"... So you were the one that..." Once again, Shuichi went silent, staring at Kaede now as he thought, almost in shock, Kaede swearing that she saw some fear in his eyes as well. "... You were the one that... "Possessed" me, a few minutes ago, right-?"

"I-I didn't mean it!" Kaede was almost as shocked as Shuichi was at her sudden shout, her hands clenched into fists, as if she was about to hit her friend, although she had no intention to do so. Still, though, she couldn't stop her own desperate shouting, as if to make up an excuse for her actions. "It's just- No one else paid attention to me no matter how loud my voice was!"

"K-Kaede! Please try to calm down, I wasn't-!"

"Yet when I shouted, I saw that you actually reacted to my voice! I thought I could ask you what was wrong, yet when I touched your shoulder, I blacked out! When I opened my eyes again, I was you!"

Shuichi took a step towards Kaede to see if he could reassure her in someway without words, his mouth opening as he reached a hand out towards the other, before quickly retracting it at her scream. "Don't touch me! I don't want to possess you again!"

The room echoed with her yell, although she knew the only one that would hear it would be the black haired boy in front of her, who just looked completely heartbroken at her shout, his hand at his chest as he clenched the other one into a fist at his side, looking away. She somehow knew he was trying to think of an argument to her "logic", but she had a feeling that he wouldn't find any "logical" conclusion to this problem. There wasn't anyway to bring logic into something involving ghost.

That is, until, he took a deep, long breath, finally looking up towards her with the same determined eyes from the class trial, although they weren't filled with sadness, but a new steely determination. "... No, I don't think you will, trust me." Once again, after his words, he took a step towards Kaede, who in return took a step back, the tears on her face somehow getting worse.

"Shuichi... Please... Don't..." Her pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears, though, as the ultimate detective took another step towards her. She started to take another step back, before feeling the piano she was in front of dig into her back, completely freezing up. Unable to move as Shuichi reached forward, grabbing her hand, her supposedly cold, dead, hand, flinching at how warm his hand felt, barely hearing his words, as well as his sigh in relief. "See? You... You didn't possess me, right? It's fine. You were probably just... Stressed out the first time, and you did it on accident."

"..." Kaede did nothing but stare at their hands in silence, showing no reaction to his words, ignoring the tears still falling down her face, her hand nearly shaking in his pale hand. She almost couldn't believe it.

 _(I... I didn't possess him..? But... I did it last time when...)_

Eventually, she looked up towards his face, finally seeing the almost sad, defeated look on his face, almost the same one he had once accused her of being the culprit. Once she saw that, she couldn't help but break down into heart wrenching sobs, covering her face with her free hand as she looked back down in shame. Shuichi stared at her in shock, having no idea on what to do, and yet, he didn't let go of her hand no matter what.

Shuichi opened his eyes just a bit to the sound of a doorbell, staring at the wall in front of him, before quickly shutting his eyes once again. He almost didn't want to get up, the bed he slept in too comfortable to get out of at the moment, almost too exhausted to move. Usually, he could easily get himself out of bed, but after yesterday's events, he felt as if he deserved to sleep in for a little while longer. Still, the doorbell only continued to ring again and again, much to his dismay, groaning as he rolled onto his back, now looking up towards the ceiling as he opened his eyes. "I'm coming, I'm coming, just-"

He suddenly screamed as he noticed Kaede's face in his ceiling, causing the spirit to scream in shock as well as she fell from his ceiling, landing on her back just in front of his bed, the person behind the door leading to his room now slamming the door as he yelled at the spirit. "How long have you been up there?! Were you up there all night?!" 

Kaede blushed as she quickly sat up, seeming unaffected by the pain she should have felt from falling over three feet, a panicked look on her face as she tried to wave him off. "N-No, I heard the doorbell, and I thought-!"

"How the hell did you even do that?! You didn't pass through anything last night!" Shuichi yelled, changing the topic quickly in his blind panic. Kaede's blush somehow got worse as she tried to find an answer, her hands now clasped in front of her as she tried to find an explanation for how she got her head through the ceiling. "I just- I was sitting in my room, staring at the floor, not really thinking about anything and it just happened! I-I'm surprised you didn't wake up when I fell into your room the first time-!"

Suddenly, the door slammed open, causing Kaede and Shuichi to nearly jump, a purple blob running into the room, the jacket it wore flying behind it. "Alright, where's the bastard that did it?!"

"..." Shuichi remained silent as Kaito wildly glanced around the room, the enraged look he had on his face slowly disappearing, changing into confusion, especially once he saw Shuichi. "... You're... Not dead?"

"... U-Uh..." Shuichi picked up his hat off the cabinet next to his head, putting it on his head as he tried to think of the proper response to Kaito's question, not wanting his classmate to be embarrassed. "... I must have worried you when I screamed, right? I'm... Sorry, I just tripped when I tried getting out of bed."

"..." Surprisingly, Kaito smiled at the uneasy explanation Shuichi gave him, a laugh even escaping his mouth as he nodded his head. "That's fine. You gave me quite a scare there, man, I was about to call Gonta to help me break the door down."

"A-Ah... Sorry."

Once again, Kaito just gave another laugh, nodding his head as he waved Shuichi off. "Like I said, it's perfectly fine, there's no need to dwell on stuff like that! ... Anyway, what are you doing? It's going to be breakfast soon!"

"... What? Is that why you nearly broke my doorbell?"

Kaito didn't seemed to be phased by Shuichi's blunt statement, running a hand through his hair as he shrugged. "Well, everyone was already in the cafeteria, ready to eat breakfast, yet we noticed that you hadn't shown up yet. So, I decided to come and get you."

Shucihi placed a hand to his mouth as he glanced over towards Kaede, silently asking the spirit if she recalled anything about what Kaito was saying. Yet she only shrugged, going back to glancing at the shelves next to his bed. "... I don't recall any of us making plans to meet up in the morning..."

Once again, Kaito shrugged, although this time, a smile appeared on his face as he looked back up towards Shuichi. "Well, you don't really need to plan to go to the cafeteria to eat breakfast in the morning, do you? I mean, where else are you gonna eat breakfast?"

"... I... Don't really eat breakfast..."

Kaito looked horrified at Shuichi's words, his eyes widening as he took a step back, as if to run away from Shuichi's statement. "Are... You serious? Then what do you eat?"

Shuichi glanced over towards Kaede once again, as if she had the answer to Kaito's question, but she only looked as horrified as Kaito, her hands held up, as if to grab his hands, although they were not close enough for her to do that. "You really don't eat breakfast, Shuichi..?"

Kaede's words almost seemed to make Shuichi even more clueless and embarrassed, looking away as he tipped his hat down to hide his face. "W-Well I... Uhm..."

"... Well, I guess that's alright." Shuichi suddenly glanced over towards Kaito, who simply shrugged, his hands at his hips, the horrified look he had on his face before gone. "Come on, let's just go to the cafeteria. You don't have to eat, but everyone's waiting."

Shuichi was too shocked by Kaito's sudden mood swing that he could barely even think of a proper response, his mouth opening and closing a few times before suddenly blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "W-Wait! I'm not ready to go outside yet!"

"... Really?" Kaito remained silent as he looked up and down, examining Shuichi for a few seconds, before shrugging. "Alright, man, I'll be waiting outside..." Just as Kaito was starting to turn around, he suddenly stopped, spinning so that he faced Shuichi again instead of simply turning, a serious look on his face. "But, Shuichi, I'm... Sorry."

"Sorry? What for?" 

"... Yesterday, for punching you last night."

"..." Shuichi quickly glanced over towards Kaede, trying his best to hide the clueless look on his face, although this time, Kaede refused to turn towards Shuichi, her back still to him as she looked at the shelves. Shuichi started at her for a few seconds more, before sighing, glancing back over towards Kaito. "... Huh? Oh, uh... It's fine. Besides, like you said..." A small smile crept onto his face as he spoke, adjusting his hat so it showed more of his face, "We shouldn't dwell on stuff like that. We should just keep moving forward."

Kaito nodded his head at Shuichi's remark, finally turning around towards the door to walk out of the room, a smile on his face as he nodded. "That's the spirit, Shuichi! Well, I'll be waiting outside if you need me! See you in a few seconds, man!"

Kaito left before Shuichi could say anything more, leaving the ultimate detective alone with the spirit of Kaede Akamatsu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, once again, for most of Kaito's dialogue to be from the game, although this time I did change it up a bit. Also, I don't know whether Kaede's room is right above Shuichi's, but if it isn't, let's just have it be above Shuichi's for this au. Anyway, comments are appreciated and welcomed, and I hope you all have a nice day/evening.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been awhile, but like I promised, I have finally updated this. Sorry once again if it takes awhile though, I've been busy, and I don't know much about the entire game, dialogue wise at least, which I need if I want to get a good flow of the story itself.
> 
> Anyway, I don't own Danganronpa in any way, shape, or form (besides the few games I do play on occasion), so please don't sue me.

The ghost and detective stood in silence for awhile, the spirit staring at the shelf front of her, while the detective fiddled with the hat on his head, biting his lip as he tried to find the right thing to say. "... Kaede... Did Kaito punch me when you..?" His voice eventually trailed off, unable to say that the spirit "possessed" him, knowing how upset it made her feel whenever he reminded her of what she had done. Still, Kaede seemed to understand what he was asking, much to his relief, nodding her head in silence as she barely glanced behind her. He sighed in relief, but also in frustration that he couldn't remember what had happened while Kaede possessed him. The last thing he could remember was seeing Kaede's limp body hanging by a noose, before getting crushed by the piano's lid, spraying blood all over the front of the piano, and-

He quickly shook his head, taking off his hat as he took a deep breath, shutting his eyes as he did. No, he couldn't think about what happened last night right now, especially because Kaede's spirit was right in front of him, humming a tune he couldn't recognize as she finally moved from her spot in front of the shelf. For a minute, Shuchi did nothing but watch the spirit in silence, almost in some sort of wonder, remaining completely silent in thought. He couldn't help but wonder how real the girl seemed, even if she was dead, as if her execution didn't happen at all. If she was a ghost, she didn't seem like one... Unless... She was some sort of illusion..?

_(... It can't be an illusion. An illusion can't be this... Realistic... Can it..?)_

Suddenly, an almost heart stopping panic seemed to creep into his mind, continuing to stare at the spirit, or what he thinks is a spirit, watching as she messes with one of the Monokuma plushies on the shelf, which he didn't even know he had. He stared as the spirit finally seemed to notice his panicked look, her humming suddenly stopping as she finally stopped messing with the plushy, giving Shuichi a concerned look as she spoke. Yet he couldn't hear a single word she said in his panic, almost as if he was deaf, his hands staring to shake as he stared in complete silence, while his thoughts were racing.

_(Please don't tell me I've gone insane..! I promised her I'd try to keep it together, at least until this entire killing game ends. Is this some sort of game Monokuma is playing, or is she just-?)_

He's too deep into his own thoughts that he doesn't notice Kaede walking towards him, unable to flinch away as the so called "spirit" grabs his hand, only panicking for a few seconds more until he's forced to shut his eyes, nearly falling on his face, the last thing he sees being the spirit beside him fade away. 

When Kaede can finally see clearly once again, the first thing she does is curse as she runs a hand through the now black hair on her head, gritting her teeth as she stared at the door in worry. She could almost feel tears come to her eyes, before shutting her eyes in an attempt to calm down and think, but the guilt from last night only returned to choke her once again.

 _(It's happening again... Shuichi, I'm so sorry-)_

She gives a startled yell once she heard a loud bang behind the door, nearly falling down onto the bed behind her as she now stared at the door. It took her a few minutes, but she finally remembered that Kaito was behind the door, patiently waiting for Shuichi to get outside to head off to breakfast, the astronaut's voice barely audible behind the door. "Hey, man, you okay? Or do I need to break the door down again?" 

A laugh resonated from behind the door, yet all Kaede did was give a forced, nervous laugh in return as she forced herself to her feet, brushing the black hair out of her face as she spoke. "Y-Yeah! I'm fine, just give me a few more minutes!" Her laugh eventually died off as she now stood up, once again brushing the black hair out of her face, glaring at it in annoyance as she gave an almost childish pout in frustration.

_(Augh, why is your hair so long, Shuichi? I can barely see, and I doubt you want me to cut it just so I can see...)_

She glanced around the room for something to use to help her see without the hair in her face, before she finally found a rubber band on the ground near Shuichi's dresser. She picked it up, stretching it a bit with her hand, mumbling something under her breath before she finally put her hair into a messy ponytail, ignoring how the ahoge on her head still stuck out a bit, since it didn't get in her face. She gave a triumphant smirk once she noticed that now no hair got into her face, quickly walking over to the door before opening it, opening her mouth to say something before seeing Kaito in front of her, a smile on his face as the door opened, before staring down at her in disbelief. 

"..." Kaede soon felt uncomfortable due to Kaito's silent stare. She tried to think of a reason as to why the astronaut was acting like this, but could think of nothing. She could barely even think when Kaito was looking at her like this. Thankfully, the astronaut finally glanced away in disbelief, now staring off to the side for a few minutes before quietly speaking up. "Your... Your hat, man..."

"... My... Hat?" She stared back at Kaito in confusion, her arms now crossed in thought. Kaito quickly glanced back at her in disbelief, his words almost so fast that she barely understood him. "How did you forget to put on your hat?! You're always wearing it!"

"I don't usually wear a..." Suddenly, realization dawned on her face, the confused look replaced with almost frustration as she ran a hand down her face, nodding her head, trying to avoid Kaito's, now confused, gaze.

_(How can I be this stupid?! I can't forget about Shuichi's hat, he'll probably be even more upset if I forgot about it!)_

She forced a smile on her face as she turned back to Kaito, walking backwards into the room as she spoke. "A-Ah, yes, my hat! I was just about to grab it, let me just-!" She suddenly stopped talking as she turned around, glancing around the room in almost a frantic manner before finally seeing Shuichi's hat on the ground. She kneeled down to pick it up, smiling back towards Kaito as she spoke. "I must have dropped it when I fell out of bed, let me just-"

"Wait!" Kaede suddenly froze up once she heard that strangely familiar voice, glancing around the room to find the source of the voice, pure disbelief on her face. No, it wasn't possible... It **can't** be possible... After all, Shuichi was-

She suddenly froze up once she felt a cold, strong hand grabbed her wrist, causing her to jump up and scream, grabbing her wrist as she stared down at where the hat was. She hears Kaito shout from behind her, before quickly the yells suddenly stop, as if the astronaut ran away, but she barely paid attention to what Kaito was doing. All she saw in front of her was a nearly transparent, almost frightening looking, spirit. The black haired spirit in front of her stared right back at Kaede, before picking the hat up, placing it inside the dresser as it shook its head, a hint of a smile on its face as it spoke. "... I think... I'm ready... To stop hiding... From the truth... Now..." The spirit's words were spread out, almost hollow, as if it wasn't used to speaking after being silent for years.

Still, Kaede, surprisingly, smiled in return, a sad, almost proud look on her face as she nodded her head, looking as if tears were about to leave her eyes once again as she spoke. "... I'm... Happy for you, Shuichi..."

The spirit seemed to blush a bit once it, or rather he, heard that, glancing off to the side as a hint of a smile appeared on his face. "Well... I have... You to thank... For that... Although... I would have preferred it... If you weren't... The killer...."

Kaede flinched in response to what Shuichi said, but she only smiled, nodding her head as she walked over towards the spirit, before extending a hand out towards him, her smile a little less pained now as she spoke. "Well... Maybe that's why I'm back, then, for a second chance. To "redeem" myself, in a sense..? I don't know, but... I hope this team-up won't end up with murder this time, Shuichi."

The spirit glanced down at Kaede's hand, then held his own hand up to his face, looking it over in the light, as if to check if the transparent body part was still there, before shrugging, using the transparent hand to grab Kaede's as he spoke. "And I hope... It won't end up... With murder... Either... Kaede..." 

With those words, Kaede's vision slowly turned to darkness, although this time, instead of fearing it, she welcomed it, knowing that it wouldn't result in panic and distress to arise between the living and the dead.

"You've been acting weird lately..."

Shuichi snapped out of his thoughts to turn to the owner of the voice, Tsumugi, who only looked at him with concern as him, Kaito, the cosplayer, and Tenko walked back towards the cafeteria where all the other students were. He stared at her in a bit of panic for a few seconds, his eyes a bit wide, before forcing a laugh to leave his mouth, waving the cosplayer off as he spoke. "R-Really? It must be your imagination then..!"

"Hm..." The blue haired girl seemed to be in thought for a few seconds, staring at the detective with wide, almost all seeing eyes, remaining completely silent as she just stared. "..." Eventually, she just shrugged, facing the path in front of her once again, much to Shuchi's relief. "Huh, I guess you're right... Besides, even if you were acting weird, I can't exactly blame you for it... Probably because of what happened last night..."

Shuichi sighed as he reached up to grab the bill of his cap, forgetting it wasn't there momentarily, giving a frustrated sigh once he felt nothing there, before just placing a hand over his face as he shut his eyes in thought.

_(Oh, Tsumugi, you don't even know half of it...)_

A regretful and apologetic look passed the cosplayer's face once she seemed to realize what she said, covering her face with both hands in shame as she gave an almost rushed apology. "O-Oh, Shuichi, I'm sorry for bringing that up. I'll just stop talking now, alright?"

Before Shuichi could even reply, Tsumugi quickly turned around, picking up her pace so that she was now ahead of the detective. He stopped walking for a few seconds, debating on whether he should go and try talking to Tsumugi again, before deciding against it. He had a feeling she was onto his "secret", and he didn't want to risk giving anything else away. He quickly started to walk again, his steps almost echoing in the nearly empty courtyard, the echoes prevented by the other three people with him. Well, four other people, if he counted the spirit walking behind Tenko. Although, he doubted Kaede made any noise at all while she was a spirit, since no one besides him acknowledged her existence.

The detective didn't even know why she even bothered staying in the world of the living. Was she hoping to stop the killing game before anyone else died? Or maybe she just felt guilty for starting the killing game off, and wanted to do something to make up for it? Either way, depending on what she planned on doing, it may take awhile for her to fulfill either wish, considering Monokuma and the Exisals his "children" controlled. Still, whatever she planned on doing, he hoped that it isn't as rushed or as rash as her last plan.

_(Maybe she isn't even planning on revenge... She's probably just-)_

"... Why do you keep looking at Tenko like that?" 

Shuichi snapped out of his thoughts, glancing away from the spirit towards Tenko, who was standing right next to the spirit, a glare on her face as she narrowed her eyes at the detective. "Is it because Tenko came to "rescue" you when Kaito came? Yelling about how someone got killed?"

The astronaut walking a bit in front of Tenko barely glanced over his shoulder, shooting a sheepish smile in her direction as he mumbled. "Well... I may have overreacted a little there..." He then turned to Shuichi, forcing an angry look on his face as he yelled at the detective, yet Shuichi could tell that the astronaut was more embarrassed than mad. "Seriously, man, what the hell happened in there?! You were acting like you just got stabbed!" 

"W-Well I..." Shuichi glanced over towards Kaede, who, surprisingly, had a hint of a smile on her face. A small laugh escaped her mouth, before she spoke, placing her hands behind her back as she did. "Tell them... That the carpet shocked you. I think they can believe that... Although, I think they'll believe you more often if you stop staring at "nothing" all the time..."

"..?" The detective looked at her in confusion for a few second more, before finally seeing the looks on Tenko's and Kaito's face. Both seemed to look as confused as Shuichi felt, while the astronaut's anger seemed to diminish, though, the Neo Aikido master's anger seemed to grow. It took him barely took a second more to remember that no one besides him could actually see Kaede now. He forced a smile on his face as he also forced a laugh to escape his mouth, nodding his head as he looked away, unable to hide his face with his hat. "I-It was just the carpet, you know, electric shocks and all..."

Kaito scoffed as he looked off to the side, shaking his head as he mumbled his reply. "Seriously, man..? That's it? I thought you just got your hand chopped off-"

"Are you really going to believe such an awful lie?!" Tenko suddenly yelled, a look of complete and utter disbelief on her face.

In response, Kaito returned her disbelief with anger, his hand clenched into a fist as he yelled back. "I don't see why the hell not!"

"Tch, I guess boys can easily believe other filthy boy's lies..."

"Mind running that by me again?!"

Shuchi did nothing at all besides stare at his two classmates, clueless on how to stop the argument, or if he even could. Even if he could make sound arguments during a class trial, there wasn't much he could do outside of it. Kaede looked just as lost as he was, although it wasn't because she didn't know what to say. She opened her mouth a few times to say something, before stopping, seeming to remember that the two couldn't even see her, crossing her arms as she looked down in some form of shame.

Shuichi, seeing this, attempted to reach his hand out to her, making an attempt to comfort the spirit in someway, before his wrist was grabbed suddenly, giving a shocked yell as he was dragged away from Kaito and Tenko, who were both still arguing. Kaede, who didn't even notice Shuichi being dragged away until she looked up, was a short distance away in a matter of seconds, her eyes widening, before she simply vanished.

The detective's eyes widened, almost forcing the person that was dragging him to stop before the spirit suddenly appeared next to him, looking as shocked as he did, a cold breeze seeming to follow her. The spirit blinked a few times, slowly, before shaking her head, as if to forget about what just happened, quickly moving so that she could once again keep up with the detective. Shuichi stared at the spirit for a few seconds more, before he finally spoke up. "How did-?"

"Are you talking to yourself again?" Shuichi flinched at the voice, glancing in front of him, only to get blue hair in his face, the smell of conditioner nearly overflowing his sense of smell, causing him to nearly gag. The person dragging him didn't seem to be fazed by this, glancing over their shoulder as they spoke, revealing themselves to be Tsumugi. "If you keep doing that, it's gonna be hard to convince everyone you're sane..."

Shuichi was about to say something in response, yet the second he opened his mouth to talk, he was overwhelmed with the smell of that headache inducing conditioner. So he simply shut his mouth, nodding his had as he forced a smile on his face, giving a small hum in agreement, glancing over to Kaede for a few seconds before forcing his wrist out of Tsumugi's hand so she wasn't dragging him anymore.

The first thing he notices when he walks into the cafeteria is how damn **bright** the place is. Although, it's probably just brighter because he isn't wearing his hat.

Nearly everyone was inside the cafeteria, their voices at a normal volume, yet not loud enough that Shuichi could barely hear what they were saying. A cold breeze seemed to touch his shoulder as he walked into the cafeteria with Tsumugi, causing him to shiver a bit, moving a bit so that he was inside the cafeteria more, glancing over his shoulder to see Kaede giving a sheepish smile. "Sorry..."

Shuichi opened his mouth to try and tell Kaede that it was fine, before catching the look Tsumugi gave him, quickly shutting his mouth and turning around, going tense.

_(I have to be careful, especially around Tsumugi now... She probably doesn't think that a ghost is following me, but even if I told her that, she'll think I'm actually going insane.)_

"... Letters, you say?"

Shuichi was dragged out of his thoughts once the monotone voice rose in volume, tinted with just a tad bit of surprise, the owner of the voice then humming in thought as another voice spoke in reply. "Yeah, it was really weird. They were hidden there in the grass."

_(Writing in the grass? That is kind of strange... Is it Monokuma's doing?)_

A third voice suddenly joined in the conversation, although it wasn't loud or rude sounding like Iruma's, it was gentle, calming even. "Weeeell... I asked God about it, and it just seemed like it was some graffiti!" A laugh quickly filled the room, followed by the sound of clapping hands. "So there's no need to worry!"

"I dunno..." A yawn interrupted the new voice, although it seemed to come from the person speaking rather than someone else. "It seems pretty suspicious to me..."

"Huh? What are you talkin' about? Are you saying God is suspicious? That'd be, like, a really lonely life..."

"No... I'm talking about-"

"Augh, are you guys really still talking about that graffiti?" Shuichi nearly jumped once he felt a hand grab his shoulder, freezing up, before glancing to his side, inching away a bit from Kaito. Tenko followed close behind the astronaut, although she went over to Himiko, who was sitting down in one of the cafeteria seats with Gonta, Kiibo, and Angie, who all know looked towards the astronaut as the purple haired boy spoke. "Come on, I brought Shuichi here guys! So let's go ahead and have breakfast!"

Naturally, once Kaito said that, everyone's line of sight seemed to drift to the shorter detective while Kaito walked over towards the other side of the cafeteria, the smile on his face hinting that he wasn't aware of how uncomfortable Shuichi seemed as everyone else stared at him. Kaede seemed to be one of the people staring at him as well, not in surprise like everyone else, but in reassurance as he seemed to try and sneak back out into the hallway as he quietly spoke up, giving a small bow in greeting. "G-Good morning, everyone..."

Tsumugi seemed to be the first one to snap out of the shocked silence, most likely because she saw the detective this morning, giving a small nod in return as she smiled towards the detective. "Good morning, Shuichi..."

Gonta spoke next, a confused look on his face as he pointed towards Shuichi. "Uh... Shuichi, your-"

"Ah, it seems like you got rid of that gloomy hat!" Ouma said, not seeming to care about the fact that he interrupted Gonta, a chuckle escaping his mouth as he walked up to the detective. "... Does this change in attire have to do with something? Such as..." The boy suddenly reached up, somehow grabbing the ponytail on the back of the detective's head, causing the detective to give a small yell in pain, a scowl appearing on his face, slapping the shorter boy's hand away, opening his mouth to yell at the shorter boy before the supreme leader continued to speak. "Such as... Kaede's death..?"

Shuichi froze up, glancing over towards Kaede, wanting to see if she was okay with the supreme leader's remark. She seemed to remain calm, yet her hands were clasped together tightly, as if she was resisting the urge to argue with Ouma. He couldn't exactly blame her for keeping quiet, since only he could see and hear her now. Suddenly, Tenko stormed over towards the detective and supreme leader, a scowl on her face as she raised a hand towards Ouma, causing Shuichi to flinch while Ouma simply smiled towards Tenko. "Someone please teach this boy some delicacy!"

Kaito seemed to ignore the other two students completely, looking over towards Shuichi in shock, before smiling sheepishly. "Oh, I didn't even notice you weren't wearing that hat, man!"

Tsumugi returned the astronaut's sheepish look with an almost annoyed look of her own, although it was more shocked, if anything. "You... Really didn't notice?"

"Kaito laughed as he shrugged his shoulders, waving off the cosplayer as he attempted to wave off his own lack of perception. "Well, yeah, after all, this morning has been pretty hectic..."

Before Tsumugi could reply, Tenko gave a frustrated yell, making a strangling motion with her hands as she yelled. "Augh, and you're too easy going!"

"Hey! Are you saying that I'm-?"

"I-I'm sorry to have caused trouble for everyone!" Everyone suddenly stopped talking at the detective's sudden yell, staring back towards him, causing Shuichi to almost blush embarrassingly, looking off to the side as he held a hand up to his head. "D-Don't stare at me too much, I only took off my hat..." A frown suddenly appeared on his face once he felt the ponytail on the back of his head coming undone, mumbling under his breath as he tried to fix it. "Thanks a lot, Ouma..."

"You're welcome!"

Shuichi sent a glare towards Ouma, about to potentially argue with the supreme leader before Tojo spoke up, her soft voice somehow filling the room. "Ah, yes. I'm sorry, please excuse our rudeness.

Angie nodded her head as she smiled, waving towards Shuichi as she nearly yelled across the small cafeteria. "Yeah, Angie totally thinks this is better! I mean, you're way cooler without the hat on!"

Shuichi stared at Angie for a few agonizingly long seconds, having no idea on how to reply to what she just said, before nodding his head quickly, forcing that smile back onto his face as he quickly, yet quietly, spoke. "Th-Thanks..?"

"Wow, what a relief!" Surprisingly, no sexual innuendos left Iruma's mouth , which, although something like that wasn't uncommon. "It's almost like when that Plain Jane character takes off her glasses for the first time!" 

_(... Should I be offended? I feel like I should be offended.)_

Kaito quickly cleared his throat to try and gather everyone's attention, although it sounded more like a hack, walking over towards Shuichi once again, placing a firm hand on the shorter boy's shoulder once again as he smiled. "Anyway, don't be late again, alright? We decided we're all gonna have breakfast together."

"You just decided that on your own." Once again, Maki's voice cut through the conversation like a knife, a pout on her face as she glanced away from everyone, her piercing red eyes staring at the ground below her.

A long, awkward silence filled the room once again, although Shuichi was just grateful he wasn't the source of it this time. It was, thankfully, stopped by Tojo, who gave a small curtsy as she spoke, her eyes shut. "Well... This morning's breakfast, I made myself."

"Really? All by yourself?" 

Shuichi nearly jumped at Kaede's voice, almost forgetting altogether that she was there, listening in on the conversation, causing the astronaut to give the other boy a weird look, confusion etched onto the taller boy's face. All too quickly, that confusion turned into concern, glancing around the room for a few seconds, as if looking for some sort of confirmation. Tsumugi, surprisingly, nodded in return, which, in response, Kaito tugged on the sleeve of Shuihci's black jacket, as if trying to drag him outside, glancing over his shoulder as he smiled. "Hey, Shuichi and I are going outside for some fresh air. Go ahead and start breakfast without us!"

"... Aren't you the one that said we're all going to eat breakfast together from here on out?"

Kaito didn't seem that affected by Maki's almost rude remark, giving a laugh in return as he waved her off. "Don't worry, we'll be back in a few minutes!" Kaito kept that smile on his face as Shuichi and him walked out of the cafeteria, keeping it on until he shut the door behind him, giving a sigh as he placed his head on the door, shutting his eyes as he thought in silence. 

Shuichi didn't say anything at all, barely shivering this time as Kaede suddenly appeared next to him, like outside, only glancing over to her as she spoke. "Do you know what's wrong with him..?'

Shuichi shrugged, glancing over towards Kaede for a few seconds as he spoke. "I don't know, I just got startled, and-"

The second Shuichi glanced back over towards Kaito, he wished he kept his mouth shut, his eyes widening as he caught the scowl on the astronaut's face. A long, tense silence fell between the two living young men and the dead young woman, who also silent, even if Kaito couldn't hear her. "... Who the hell are you talking to, Shuichi?"

Shuichi could do nothing but stare at the astronaut for a few minutes, remaining silent, before quietly speaking up, his voice whisper quiet. "N-No one-"

"Bullshit!" Kaito held up a fist, causing Kaede to tense up, grabbing Shuichi's shoulder, as if to defend her old classmate. Shuichi almost expected to be possessed, yet he didn't feel the sensation of being pulled out of his body, so he only continued to stare at Kaito as he yelled at him some more. "Dude, something is clearly wrong with you, you've been acting weird since... Last night. I thought it was just you mourning, but it's clearly more than that!"

"..." Shuichi glanced towards Kaede for a few seconds more once again, before looking down at the ground, unable to hide under his hat, mumbling so that, hopefully, only Kaede would hear him. "... Should we tell him..?"

"What the hell did you just say?"

Both Shuichi and Kaede seemed to ignore what Kaito said as the spirit thought, humming in thought for a few seconds, before quickly shaking her head, mumbling her reply as well, even if Kaito couldn't hear her. "It's still too early to tell him, I did just... Die, yesterday. I hate doing this, but we have to lie to him. We can't just say that you're okay, though..."

_(Easy for you to say, you're not the one that's probably about to be hit in a few seconds.)_

Shuichi took a deep breath, allowing the silence to last a little bit longer before he finally looked up towards Kaito. "... You're right, I've been having... Problems..."

"... What kind of problems?" Already, Shuichi was making progress, shown by Kaito's voice getting softer, yet it was still a bit harsh.

Shuichi finally looked up as he spoke, forcing himself to stand up straight as he crossed his arms, thinking for a few seconds more before finally speaking. "... Sometimes, it's like... I can see Kaede, talking to me or someone else, her looking at something, her humming a song I don't ever remember hearing... I know it's fake, I just..." Shuichi went silent as he looked away again, gripping his arm as he tried to think of a more believable addition to his lie.

Yet Kaito did nothing but remain silent as Shuichi spoke, only remaining silent for a few seconds more as Shuichi thought, before speaking up, although it was more like he was mumbling to himself. "... Maybe I shouldn't have told you about her research room..." 

Barely a moment after Kaito finished that thought, Shuichi's head snapped into the astronaut's direction, his eyes wide as he yelled. "N-No!" Kaito gave a startled yell at the other boy's scream, nearly punching the other if Shuichi didn't take a step back, his eyes wide at his own outburst, quickly trying to explain himself. "I-I mean, no, that wasn't a mistake."

"... Man, you sounded like..." The shock quickly fell from Kaito's face, glancing over towards the entrance of the cafeteria as he went silent once again, trying to find some sort of compromise. "... I can tell that you're not telling the full story, but I won't pry, alright? I won't do anything as long as you try to... Augh, I dunno, act normal again?" Kaito shrugged, before holding a hand out in front of him, forcing a small, almost tired looking smile on his face. "Deal..?"

Shuichi, his eyes still wide, glanced over towards Kaede, silently asking her if she also agreed to this bargain, who nodded her head in return. Once he saw that, he seemed to calm down quite a bit, forcing a smile onto his own face as he extended his hand, nodding his head as he shook his classmate's hand. "Deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah heck, this took a lot longer than I thought. I tried to make this extra long to make up for that long absence I had on here. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter. Comments are both welcomed and appreciated, and I hope you all have a nice morning/day/evening.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been 300 years but finally... It's here....
> 
> while I will continue this fic, I am going to change some things about it. that's right, I'm going to make a different lists of victims and killers and survivors (oh my!). why you ask? because it's more interesting for not only myself, but also all of you!
> 
> so yeah that's 99% of the reason why this chapter took so long to make.
> 
> Fun fact: I have five different versions of this chapter written out, each with different beginnings, point of views, interactions, etc, and I'm dying. Slowly but surely, I'm dying. death is almost upon me. i can feel it
> 
> I do hope you all enjoy this though, and I apologize for the really long wait!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Danganronpa in any way, shape, or form (besides the few games I play) so please don't sue me

Not for the first time since Kaede came back to the world of the living, she wondered about what she could possibly do in the current state she was in.

It was almost all she could do now at this point, considering how she couldn't talk to anyone besides Shuichi, with recent events showing that talking to him in public would only lead to confusion and suspicion. Even now, when Kaito was the only one around Shuichi, talking to Shuichi proved difficult, her simply being there felt wrong somehow. Not to mention, it would be rude to listen in on a conversation she had no part of.

At first, she had tried to distance herself from both of them so she wouldn't listen in on their conversation, yet once she had gone down to the end of the hallway, her vision had immediately gone blurry, before quickly blacking out, then appearing right next to Shuichi only seconds later, causing the detective to shiver just a bit. She couldn't tell whether or not he was shivering because of her sudden appearance, or something else entirely, yet she decided to not try to do that again.

Eventually, she had resorted to simply looking around in an attempt to try and block out the conversation the two were having. No matter what she did, though, her eyes kept wandering towards the entrance to the warehouse. She runs a mental list of what's inside in an attempt to distract herself, shutting her eyes as she tilted her head a bit in thought.

_(Let's see... Inside, there are P.E. mats, hurdles, cameras, RC helicopters, shot puts...)_

Kaede quickly shakes her head, biting her lip as she clenched her shaking hands into fists, digging her nails into her hands to try and bring her mind to something else.

The complete absence of pain from both actions causes her eyes to snap open in surprise. 

She stares down at her hands, and while there were marks in her hands from when she had dug her nails into them, there was no sign of any blood escaping through them. Kaede can only gasp in shock as the wounds quickly heal themselves seconds later, leaving no signs of any injury. All that's left behind is a dull, stinging pain that remains for only a second before fading away.

At first, Kaede doesn't know what to say or do, forcing her breathing to remain steady as her thoughts suddenly raced. For just a few minutes, she had forgotten the fact that she was dead, and this causes an almost hysterical laugh to escape her mouth.

_(God, I'm so stupid, it's barely been twelve hours, and I've already forgotten about my death...)_

Kaede doesn't notice the concerned look Shuichi sends towards her, or how Kaito had asked him what was wrong. Instead, she tries to focus on her breathing as her hysteria slowly begins to turn into panic. Even if no one could see her, she couldn't panic, not right now, not while the killing game was going on.

Not while the mastermind was still alive.

Kaede froze up completely, no longer breathing. 

The mastermind was still alive, here, among them, probably laughing at Kaede's failed attempt at killing them, laughing at how Rantaro died instead of them. 

Kaede is surprised at the sudden rise of anger she felt, yet she doesn't stop it, her hands once again clenching into shaking fists as her face twists into a rare scowl. She had to do something, anything at all to save everyone, even if it meant possessing someone and-

"Kaede? Are you okay?"

She isn't able to wipe the anger off her face as she turns around to face Shuichi, who retracts his hand just a bit once he notices what mood she's in, his eyes widening just a bit in surprise. "Wh-What's wrong? Did you notice something?"

The first thing Kaede notices isn't that Kaito is no longer inside the hallway, but how a mist was slowly leaving Shuichi's mouth every time he exhaled, or how he was shivering just a bit, as if he was freezing, yet Kaede was sure it wasn't cold at all in the small hallway. As the anger on her face quickly disappears, so does the mist, and it takes Kaede only a few seconds to realize that she's done something. What, she didn't know exactly, but it probably wasn't good. "N-No, I'm alright, but are you okay? You look like you're freezing..."

It takes a few seconds for Shuichi to nod his head, reaching towards his head for his hat, before freezing up once he realized it was no longer there, a small, frustrated sigh leaving his mouth as he lowered his hand once again. "Y-Yeah, it just got really cold all of a sudden..."

"... Did Kaito leave because it got cold..?"

This time, the detective shakes his head, staring off towards the entrance of the cafeteria as he spoke. "I don't think so..." Kaede can only stare in surprise as a small smile appears on Shuichi's face. "I think he just went back inside because he was hungry..."

The smile the detective gives is enough to drag Kaede out of her hysterics and back down to Earth, all anger she had held before simply vanishing. Yet the thoughts she had before remained, and once she had remembered them, she nearly burst into tears, feeling sick to her stomach.

_(What's wrong with me?! I can't do something like that again! There... There is no mastermind... Everyone... E-Everyone...)_

She isn't able to finish the thought as a warm, somewhat loose hand grabs her shoulder, shaking her just a bit as the owner of the hand spoke. "K-Kaede?! Kaede, seriously, are you okay?!"

The warmth she feels alone is enough to startle her, finally making her realize just how cold she was. It felt like she was trapped inside a freezer, unable to escape no matter what she did. She felt drawn to the sudden warmth, and she now knew she could easily take it. The living could spare a little bit of warmth for the dead, not enough to kill, of course, but...

_(It's his life, but... But it's just so cold, I feel like I'm dying...)_

Kaede nearly throws up as she finally realizes that she was thinking about basically stealing Shuichi's life, remembering what crossed her mind moments before, and forces a reassuring smile onto her face as she recoils from the detective's touch. "Y-Yes... I'm fine..."

Shuichi's about to open his mouth to argue when the door to the cafeteria opens once again, the ultimate astronaut's head sticking out from behind the door as he smiled towards Shuichi. "Yo, man, if you don't hurry up, I'll eat your breakfast for you! It's really good!"

Shuichi seems to think about the astronaut's threat for a second or two, before returning the astronaut's smile with one of his own, waving Kaito off as he spoke. "I-I'll be there in a minute, alright?"

Kaede doesn't hear Kaito's response as he shuts the door once again, her own thoughts consuming her mind once again. Trying to reassure herself, as well as taking deep, slow breaths to calm herself down.

Once Shuichi finally turns around and faces her once again, she's already built walls to hide her feelings, ones she was now determined to always keep up, no matter what. Besides, she was truly no longer a participant in this killing game, she was dead, her own feelings shouldn't affect the killing game anymore.

Even so, the smile on her face still startles the detective, yet she pretends that she doesn't notice it, forcing her voice to once again have an upbeat tone. "Seriously, Shuichi, I'm fine! Let's just head inside!"

She doesn't give him a chance to respond, already moving towards the door. Still, Shuichi follows her, opening the door for her since she, for some strange reason she had yet to fathom, couldn't touch the doorknob.

###### 

"Well, Shuichi, what do you think?"

Shuichi looks up from his plate to find nearly half of the people around him staring at him, causing him to blush a bit in embarrassment, setting the fork in his hand down as he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, but... I wasn't paying attention..."

His voice slowly starts to trail off, getting quieter the more he speaks, yet at least one of the others seems to understand, with Gonta speaking up. "Well, Gonta saw some graffiti outside while looking for bugs, and Kaito was asking if Shuichi could figure out what it meant! It was on a stone slab, and all it said was "a horse"..."

_(Graffiti? In a place like this? While it is pretty run down, I didn't really expect there to be graffiti...)_

Kaito looked expectantly at Shuichi, nearly causing his chair to tip a bit as he spun to face the detective. "Well, does anything come to mind, Shuichi?"

Shuichi could only stare at the other blankly for a few seconds, absolutely nothing coming to mind at all about what it could mean, before glancing off to the side towards the only person no one else seemed to see behind Kaito's chair.

Kaede didn't even move to sit down once both her and Shuichi returned to the cafeteria, instead standing a little ways away from the table, as if she was purposely distancing herself from everyone else. Even then, a small smile remained on her face as she watched her old classmates get along, quite unlike the fake one she had given him not that long ago.

Now, though, that smile was gone, replaced by a clueless frown as she also turned a bit to face him, simply shrugging as she shook her head, remaining completely silent as she did so.

He quickly turned a bit to face Kaito once again, quickly giving his answer once he saw the concern growing in Kaito's eyes once again. "N-No, I don't know what it means..."

Ouma, who was a few seats down from Gonta, gave a long sigh in disappointment as he stared off to the side. "Ah man, how boring... I was sure that the ultimate detective would have came up with something..." A sparkle appeared in the short boy's eye as he turned to Gonta, all the disappointment he had on his face seconds ago quickly disappearing as he nearly yelled. "But what an amazing find, Gonta! I knew I could trust a person like you! You know..." A mischievous glint appeared in the supreme leader's eyes as he spoke, although that somewhat childish smile remained. "... Someone like you should work for me."

Gonta was just about to reply when Kaito scowled towards Ouma, shaking his head just a bit. "Gonta, you gotta be careful. This guy's a real liar..."

The joy on Gonta's face disappeared at those words, the color nearly draining from his face as he looked towards Kaito in disbelief. "What? Really?!"

Ouma could only laugh, shaking his head as he leaned back in his chair, his hands now behind his head. "Of course not! I couldn't lie to save my own life!"

Although Ouma's choice of words were quite worrying, Gonta seemed to regain a small amount of happiness that he had lost before, a sigh of relief leaving his mouth as he spoke. "Ah, then Gonta only has to help out Ouma whenever he needs to lie..."

Gonta's words seem to only shock most of the people at the table, leaving most of them speechless, besides Maki, who simply sighed in annoyance as she shook her head. "You're too gullible... If you keep acting like this, you're going to get yourself killed."

Her cold words succeed in silencing everyone at the table, leaving the cafeteria in a tense, almost crushing silence. Shuichi can barely catch Kaede tensing up, her hands once again clenched into fists as she seemed to try and stare at something far away that no one else could see.

It takes a few minutes for someone to finally say something, their words cutting through the silence like a knife. "... Was there something wrong with Maki's reasoning?"

Everyone turns to Kiibo in both a mixture of horror and, in Ouma and Maki's case, indifference. Kiibo seemed to lose some of his confidence, a worried look on his face as he examined the other's faces. "... What?"

Before anyone could speak, Ouma let out a small chuckle, that childish look returning to his face as he sat up straight once again. "Man, you're so cruel, Kii-boy! Well... I guess I could expect that from a robot."

"What's that supposed to mean?! I can understand-!"

"A-Anyway!" Kaito's sudden shout cuts off Kiibo completely, panic laced in both his words and movements as he waved at the others. "About that graffiti... Does anyone else know what it could mean?"

Even if the change in topic was quite sudden, most of the students welcomed it, the topic change even managing to drag Kaede out of whatever she was thinking about.

This time, the silence left behind is not as crushing, allowing the remaining students to have a rare moment of thinking, sometimes even mumbling to one another.

"Maybe Monokuma knows something about it..."

Shuichi is the only one to turn towards Kaede, for once not being noticed by Kaito, not thinking about how anyone else would think of him as he spoke to, what seemed, no one. "What would Monokuma know about..."

"You called?"

Nearly half of the class jumps out of their seats at the small robotic bear's greeting, with some even tipping their seats over to the point they fell on their side. Tenko is the first one to compose herself enough to yell at the bear, pointing at it as she nearly screamed. "N-No one would ever call for you! You're the one that put us here!"

The bear tilts his head to the side as he rocked on his feet. "Whaaaa? Little ol' me? I would never do such a thing!"

This time, Kaito yells at the bear, his hands once again raised into fists as he clenched his teeth. "Cut the crap! We already know you and your kids are full of shit!"

At the mention of Monokuma's so called children, the words "Hello-kuma" ring across the room, followed by the appearance of the other bears, minus Monokid.

Monotaro is the first one of the robots to speak up, sweat seeming to drip off the robot's face as it mumbled. "Y-Yeah... We haven't d-done anything wrong..."

Monophanie spoke up next, nearly shivering. "W-We've only b-been watching all of you... No h-harm done..."

Monodam interjects all too quickly, silencing both of his siblings. "WE ARE ONLY GET-TING A-LONG."

The remaining Monokub, Monosuke, merely scoffs, shaking his robotic head. "Un-fucking-believable...

Monokuma seemed oblivious to the tension between his children, cackling evilly as he looked back over towards the students. "See! My sweet, adorable children have done no wrong! And you just accused them all willy nilly..!" The bear looks down at the ground, almost seeming disappointed. "Right when I was about to reward you all, too..."

That seemed to gain the interest of most of the students. 

"What do you mean by reward..?" Kiibo hesitantly questioned.

Monokuma was all too happy to answer, waving his small hands in the air as he waddled forward a bit. "Why, it's your reward for surviving the first trial, of course! What else could it possibly be?!"

Before anyone could give a proper response, each Monokub stepped forward, handing a random student whatever object they were now carrying in their robotic paws.

Monodam says nothing as he steps towards Shuichi, barely giving the detective the time to properly react as he gave him, what seemed to be, some sort of instrument, before heading back towards his father.

Kaede finally steps forward towards Shuichi to examine the object in the detective's hands, almost seeming fascinated by the instrument. "... Do you think we have to play it somewhere?"

Shuichi examined the instrument for a few seconds longer before shrugging, mumbling his reply. "I think so..."

Once the rest of the objects had been given out, Monosuke spoke up, waving his small hands in irritation. "This is ridiculous! What's all this trash supposed to even do?"

Monokuma simply shrugged, an almost careless smile adorning its face as it spoke. "If I can be honest with you for a second, I'm not so sure... I'm kind of hoping these kids find out the answer to that mystery!"

 _(While I doubt Monokuma just gave these out without knowing their purpose, both versions of this explanation seem... Ominous...)_

"Anywaaayyy..." The bear waved as he began to speak once again. "Good luck to you all! And don't forget to have fun!"

All too quickly, Monokuma then disappeared, as well as his children after giving a somewhat joyous sounding "Bye-kuma!".

"... So... What do we do now?" Tsumugi questioned, trying her best not to drop the heavy red ball in her hand.

Angie hummed in thought for a minute or so, clasping the passport tightly between her hands as she did. "Hmm... Well, God says that we should all, like, use some of this stuff around the school!"

Ouma gave an impatient sigh at Angie's explanation, attempting to snatch the paper out of said girl's hands as he mumbled out his reply. "Like that's going to get us anywhere..."

Tsumugi gave a small frown once she saw the instrument in Shuichi's hands, before giving a small sigh. "Shuichi, you're so lucky... I can't believe you got an Ocarina."

_(... A what now?)_

Kaito, who had been given some sort of hand crank, was strangely silent as everyone else spoke, turning the object around in his hands, before suddenly speaking. "I... I think I know where this goes?"

"Huh, really now?" Ouma had given up on the passport, now staring up at Kaito as he spoke. "And where, exactly, could it work?"

"Hey, I said I think I know where it goes, not I know where it goes!"

"And I asked you where it would work, not if you were actually intelligent enough to figure out how to use it." Ouma huffed as he narrowed his eyes at the astronaut. "Man, you're not a very good listener..."

"I-It's not like you know where it goes, either!"

Shuichi had continued to examine the wooden instrument in his hands as the two boys argued, turning it around in his hands, looking into the holes of it, even knocking on it once or twice to check if there was something inside it. Yet nothing really struck the detective as odd, besides him getting a cryptic hint from Tsumugi about what instrument it was. "... Wait, I think I know where our object goes, too..."

Once again, Shuichi is the only one who turns towards the spirit beside him once she speaks, his eyes widening a bit at Kaede's somewhat bold claim. "R-Really, where?"

"Well..." Kaede shuts her eyes for a moment in thought, frowning in concentration as she tried to recall where the instrument would be played. "... My memories are kind of fuzzy, but I thought I saw some place where there were some music notes... Maybe we're supposed to play it there?"

_(It is worth a shot... It's not like we're going to get in trouble for guessing the wrong answer for this, right?)_

Shuichi turns around to face his classmate's once again, not yet noticing the strange look he got from Maki, who was standing to the other side of him, clearing his throat a bit before speaking up. "I think I know what to do with my item, too. I saw some music notes nearby, so maybe I'm supposed to use this thing to play the notes there."

"Music notes, huh?" Korekiyo hummed as he tilted his hat down a bit, hiding his eyes from sight as he pondered Shuichi's words for a moment. "... I don't think any of us have any sort of talent relating to music... Well, any of us that are still alive, of course."

Korekiyo's words are like a knife, lodging itself directly into Shuichi's chest, and he's left speechless. 

The same could not be said for Kaede.

"W-Wait, I could play it! I mean, sure, it's not a piano, but we just..." Her explanation trails off once she notices that no one reacted to her words. No one had turned to her, and realization dawns on Kaede's face a little too late.

She had forgotten that no one could hear her, and it felt like yet another knife was stabbed into Shuichi's chest. No one besides him could hear her in her current state, and it wasn't like he could tell her about what she was talking about without seeming insane...

_(... There is one way that she can talk to them, though... A way that can also allow her to help everyone else...)_

Shuichi nearly shivers as an idea starts to form in his mind, yet he's already speaking before he can stop himself, a somewhat uneasy smile adorning his face. "Don't worry about it. I used to, uh... Play an instrument..." An uneasy chuckle escapes his mouth as he looks away, trying to avoid Kaede's, and a few other's, disbelieving gazes. "It's been awhile, though, so I'm probably not that good at it..."

"Oooohhh..." Tsumugi all too easily buys the detective's lie, the trusting look on her face almost makes Shuichi completely take back his lie. "Like how Sherlock Holmes plays the violin, yes?"

"Y-Yeah, just like that..."

"Well, what the fuck are you waiting for, Shyhara?!" Iruma scoffs, pointing towards the cafeteria exit as she yelled at the detective. "Get the hell out of here and do your thing!"

Shuichi was all too happy to oblige, avoiding eye contact with everyone else in the room as he nearly ran out of the cafeteria without a second glance, with Kaede trailing not that far behind.

###### 

"You don't know how to play an instrument, do you?"

Kaede had only asked this question once she was sure no one else was around outside besides Shuichi. The raw despair she had felt at once again forgetting no one could hear her was still fresh, and she did not want to feel that again for a little while, at least. She had waited until they were both outside before she finally took the lead, walking in the direction of where she had last seen the music notes.

Now, though, Shuichi smiled uneasily, staring down at the instrument in his hands as he mumbled out his reply. "Yeah, that was... A bit of a lie on my part, I admit."

"Well, it was a pretty bad lie..." Kaede sighs, no longer walking so she can finally turn to face the detective. "Still, why did you lie?"

It takes a few seconds for Shuichi to stop, nearly walking right into the spirit before freezing up completely. That uneasy smile is no longer on his face, replaced by an equally uneasy frown. "I... Had an idea, and I couldn't explain it to anyone else."

Kaede can already feel a sense of dread creeping into her mind at Shuichi's words, even if the detective had yet to reveal the plan he had thought of. After all, the last time Shuichi had a plan, she ended up using it to kill someone. Still, she continues to speak, once again forcing a neutral frown onto her face as she sent the detective a questionable look. "... What kind of plan?"

"..." Shuichi takes a deep, long breath, as if to prepare himself, yet he doesn't look at Kaede at all, as if he couldn't bare to look at her at that moment. "I..." He sighs, taking another breath before he forced himself to speak. "... I know that you have enough musical talent to figure out what to do here, so maybe you could possess..."

"No."

Both Shuichi and herself seemed shocked at her response, both not at all used to the sudden harsh tone that escaped her mouth. 

Shuichi is the first to regain his composure just enough to speak, still staring down at Kaede in shock as he mumbled. "Kaede, you..."

"Don't say it." Once again, Kaede is shocked by the harsh tone that left her mouth, yet she continues to speak, as if the words she said were made against her will. "You have no idea how it feels to just use someone like that. To easily become someone else and take over their life. Shuichi, whenever I do that, I feel... Awful..." Kaede barely feels the tears starting to appear in her eyes, the walls she had built not that long ago starting to chip just a bit. "I-I can't... I couldn't..."

Kaede nearly jumps once she feels a hand on her shoulder, the warmth radiating from it once again reminding her of her death. This time, though, she attempts to push it away, trying her best to ignore the hurt look on the detective's face. She didn't want to feel that suffocating cold from before, but she also didn't want to hurt the detective, physically or mentally "... Kaede, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked for that...

She takes a deep breath, shutting her eyes a bit as she tried to find the right words to say. "... Listen, Shuichi, I-"

"Wait up, Shuichi!"

Both Shuichi and Kaede nearly jump at the yell, finally hearing the two heavy sets of quick footsteps behind the detective. Shuichi barely has enough time to turn before Tenko nearly slams into him, with Kiibo being dragged behind her. The aikido master doesn't seem affected by the robot's complaints at all, though, instead turning all her anger to Shuichi. "Augh, why didn't you hear me the first time?!"

Shuichi and Kaede can't help but stare at Tenko in confusion. Even if they had been just speaking, they hadn't said anything before that, and there was little doubt that Tenko had been looking for them for that long. Eventually, Shuichi finally musters up the will to speak, looking away in slight shame. "Sorry..." A look of confusion quickly dons his face once he sees the ultimate robot out of the corner of his eye, staring at the robot as Kiibo looked around for, what he could assume, where the instrument was supposed to be used. "Uhm... Why did you bring Kiibo with you?"

"It wasn't Tenko's decision!" Tenko huffs as she waves her hands at Kiibo, as if the robot's actions would further prove her point. "Himiko already went with Tsumugi, so Tenko was just going to go on her own, but then Kiibo started to follow Tenko, no matter what she did!"

The robot's antenna droops a bit in embarrassment at Tenko's words, glancing at Tenko for just a moment before looking around once again. "You make it sound like I was stalking you... I was just a bit interested in how Shuichi was going to use the item he was given..."

Kaede can't watch the conversation playing out in front of her for that much longer, slowly drifting away from her past classmates until she was a small distance away from Shuichi and the others. It felt strange for her to be there with the others, and yet unable to talk to them at all, almost leaving an empty feeling behind. 

Not for the first time since she became a spirit, Kaede felt isolated from everyone else, yet she all too quickly tries to distract herself from that awful feeling by trying to be productive. She can't move far from the detective without going back to his side, but the least she could do was look around from where she was to find the stone slab with notes on it.

It felt like a lifetime ago since she last saw it, barely recalling it in her fading memory. It wasn't only her newest memories from when she was alive that were fuzzy, but also her past. She couldn't properly recall that much unless she concentrated, and even then, she sometimes couldn't recall what she needed. Of course, this did nothing but terrify her, leaving her unable to do anything like the state she was in the night before. 

Kaede shivers at the memory of what happened the night before, shutting her eyes as she shook her head. She had done nothing but lay down as she stared up at her small room's ceiling in the darkness, trying her best not to panic as her memories had slowly seemed to fade away. It took almost all night for her to properly piece them together once again, and even then, some of them didn't feel right. It was as if she was solving a puzzle, and someone had taken away some pieces and threw in some from another puzzle entirely. It was confusing, to say the least. 

_(I keep remembering things that I'm sure I didn't do... Does this have to do with everyone's missing memories?)_

"Found them!" 

Kaede is dragged out of her thoughts at Shuichi's yell, turning around quickly to see that Shuichi, Kiibo, and Tenko had started to look for the music notes while she wasn't paying attention, with Shuichi finding them in the end. It took her only a few seconds to walk over to the detective, forcing a small smile onto her face once she was finally within proper earshot. "Good job, Shuichi!" She then looks at the stone slab in front of the building covered in ivy, not noticing the blush creeping onto the detective's face as she examines the notes. "... Huh, this isn't really that complicated, it's all the same note. There's also only three notes..."

Shuichi doesn't have the chance to reply as Kiibo and Tenko finally meet up with him, the robot quickly moving forward to examine the notes on the stone slab, not at all noticing how Kaede was right next to him. "How fascinating! It's as if someone had prepared these specifically for this sort of task."

Tenko glances down at the instrument in Shuichi's hands, before turning back to the robot, her frown a little less demeaning as she looked down at the stone slab. "But there isn't another place we can use it, besides Kaede's research lab..."

Kaede flinches a bit at the sudden melancholy tone in Tenko's voice, opening her mouth to say something before all too quickly remembering she couldn't be heard by anyone besides Shuichi. Shuichi does something before she can ponder on this for long, though, as he once again examines the instrument in his hand. "..." He covers some of the holes on it with his fingers, before blowing into the instrument, an almost pathetic sound leaving it, causing Shuichi to all too quickly stop once the three notes had been quickly played. 

Yet the notes seemed to do their job, shown by the ivy in front of the building shriveling up and dissolving, much to the surprise of the others, leaving them in a shocked state of silence.

"... Wow..." It takes a few seconds more for Kiibo to finally form a proper sentence in his shock, an almost childlike wonder in his eyes. "What amazing technology..."

Tenko does't seem to share the amazement Kiibo has, blanching as she stared at the doorway that was now visible. "I-Is it even safe to go through that door!? W-What if we just unleashed something a-awful!?"

_(... I really don't think our situation could get any worse...)_

"Hello-Kuma!"

This time, no one is that shocked once the Monokubs appear, with Tenko simply tensing up, as if she was about to fight, while Kaede barely flinched. Kaede was almost disgusted by how she was already getting used to all of the murderous bear's presence, yet it doesn't linger for long as one of them, Monophanie, speaks up. "Oh, there's nothing dangerous here! It's just a pool."

For some reason, all of Kiibo's childlike wonder disappears at the Monokub's words, almost seeming disappointed. "A pool? Why would we need a pool?"

"Well, we all thought that-"

"FOR YOU TO GET A-LONG."

Monophanie, at least seems to, becomes almost too scared to speak once Monodam speaks up, yet Monosuke didn't seem to share his so called sister's feelings. "Yeah yeah, whatever. More importantly, though, it holds more stuff for youse all to use in the killing game!"

This time, it was the killing game participants's turn to freeze up completely, terrified at the idea of another murder and execution. None of them wanted to lose another classmate, that much was obvious.

Yet, it was only the living that had remained silent, as Kaede had immediately become livid at the Monokub's words, briefly forgetting once again that no one could hear her. "Is that all you can think about?!" Shuichi flinches just a bit at Kaede's words, yet Kaede doesn't notice it, neither does she notice how the detective began to shiver just a bit, or how a small amount of mist left his mouth. "I know this is some sick game to... To whoever is controlling you, but we're not going to kill each other just for your sick entertainment! We won't-"

"K-Kaede..."

The spirit snaps out of her rant once she hears her name, almost shocked at how soft the voice was, contrasting her harsh tone, yet once she turns around to face whoever had spoken, her rage all too quickly disappears. Shuichi almost looked like he had just escaped a freezer, shivering so much that he could barely stand. Tenko and Kiibo were at his side, concern evident on both of their faces. Kiibo grows confused at the detective's words, though. "Why are you calling for Kaede? Did she not die yesterday?"

Kiibo's words send a shock through Kaede, the spirit barely hearing Tenko's response about how rude Kiibo's words were as her eyes widen a bit. Despite her shock, though, Kaede laughs just a bit, her anger once again turning into a small bit of hysteria.

Dead

She was dead.

It all seemed ridiculous to her. Why didn't Rantaro return instead of her? If anything, he would have filled the "vengeful spirit" role more nicely than she would have. There was really no reason as to why she would need to stay, besides to suffer among the living for just a bit longer. She had held no grudges against any of her classmates, and she couldn't think of anyone she really despised...

Wait, no, there was one person she now could despise. She didn't know who they were exactly, at least, for now.

_(The mastermind...)_

Someone among them was controlling the so called headmasters of the school, and while Kaede's original plan to try and get rid of them had failed, she now had a second chance at finding them.

A second chance of finding out who they were, of getting rid of them.

She just had to wait and find an opportunity to think of a plan, and then, finally, she would get rid of them.

Kaede was going to kill the mastermind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAHHHHHHH THIS CHAPTER IS FINALLY DONE OH MY GOD
> 
> originally this chapter was going to be longer but then I decided "no!!!!" and so it was written. still, this chapter is pretty long, and it took me about four months to write in all, so I do hope you all enjoy it! Im not good at writing the Monokubs theyre kind of annoying to me but i sure hope i did them. justice.
> 
> Also thank u Eddy for giving me tons of ideas for this fic! You've helped me a lot here and none of this could have been done without you!
> 
> Anyway, feedback is welcomed and appreciated, and I hope you all have a nice day/afternoon/evening!

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry about most of the dialogue Kaito spoke being from the game directly, there was just no reason for me to change it, and I thought it still fitted in with what I was writing in that moment. Updates for this fic will take awhile, but don't worry, I do plan on finishing this fic, although it'll probably not be finished by the time the english version of DRV3 comes out. After it does come out, though, updates will be more frequent, also, sorry for the lack of "kun" or "chan" titles, I don't know Japanese and I'm already learning another language, so I just didn't bother after awhile and changed it. Anyway, thanks for reading, comments are appreciated and welcomed, and I hope you all have a nice night/day.


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